1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, security shields, self checkout point of sale (‘POS’) systems, and methods for manufacturing security shields for reducing incident infrared radiation received by one or more infrared detectors in a self checkout point of sale system.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Advancements in computer systems have enabled many technologies including, for example, self checkout retail point of sale (‘POS’) systems. Self checkout POS systems enable a user to purchase retail items typically without the need of human intervention. Because human operation is normally unnecessary for self checkout POS systems, safeguards are typically put into place to reduce theft of retail items. One such safeguard includes a security zone, an area in which a retail customer is physically impeded from a retail item to be purchased and where measurements of the item are taken. The measurements are stored such that when the barcode of the item is scanned for purchase, the scanned item's measurements are compared to the actual measurements taken of the item in the security zone for verification. Such measurements are typically taken through a combination of infrared emitters and detectors. To physically impede customers from the retail item in the security zone, security shields are installed. Such security shields are typically transparent in order to provide visibility of the security zone including items to be purchased to both customers and employees. Due to reflection and transmission of ambient light, stray infrared radiation from infrared emitters, and stray infrared radiation from other sources, the security zone often provides faulty measurements by the combination of infrared emitters and detectors. What is needed, therefore, is a security shield for reducing incident infrared radiation received by the detectors of the security zone in a self checkout POS system.